Cooling Prescotts

[excitron]

Someone at DFI is handing me a song and dance about problems I'm having with my motherboard related to the chip being too hot for the board (one wonders then why they put a sticker on the box saying "Prescott Ready"). Apparently there is some concern about the mosfets around the chip on the board. I have a 3.2 gig Prescott with it's supplied fan, not overclocked, on a DFI LANPARTY PRO875B board.

So I'd like some suggestions on how to better cool this chip. I want to stay with air cooling. The chip will not be overclocked.

They didn't really tell me what temps I'm supposed to be having, but a quick glace at an AIDA32 report shows 136F for the chip and 111F for the motherboard. Would a 10 degree drop be realistic with air cooling? Would it be sufficient?

Any fan recommendations that can effectively cool the Prescott down will be appreciated, thanks.

 

[bjpatrick]

Thermaltake makes good fans in my opinion. I have also run into issues considering the amount of air in-take that a case possesses.

 

[endyen]

FYI 138f is only 58c. That's a good temp for a scotty, so long as max temp stays below 70c or 158f. Even at that, your system will throttle, so no real sweat.
The most common problem I have seen with the new Intel systems, is people using psus that dont have a large bottom fan. They do really help keep the system temps down.

 

[excitron]

Hmmm, well, so my chip ISN'T running hot? a quick check in AIDA32 right now shows the chip at 55C/131F and the motherboard at 42C/108F.

Granted, these are readings AIDA32 is getting from the existing sensors on the motherboard. Even if they are within limits, perhaps there are thermal problems regardless? Should I consider water cooling? I've stayed away from that because it seems like a convoluted install process. My system is installed in an Enlight 4U rackmount case, I don't know if that would complicate or simplify a water cooling system.

On the other hand, am I just getting a line of $#it from DFI on the issue with the motherboard? I'm not sure where to go with all this, this system has been an absolute nightmare.

 

[o1die]

You can go with one of the thermalright copper heatsinks and a low rpm fan, but you'll have to remove the board out of the case to install them. They also make a heatsink for the northbridge chipset. Check svc.com. You're going to spend about $50 or more for one of these, and a 10 degree c drop would be the most you could expect. With some upgrades, I only notice a 3-4 degree drop. The only other option is scrapping off the thermal pad, and using artic silver ceramique or one of the other thermal pastes. I only noticed a 3-4 degree drop, but that's better than what you have now. Intel honored their 3 year warranty for me recently without the thermal pad in place, so I know firsthand that's it won't void your warranty.

 

[endyen]

With a mobo temp of 42c, you have system irrigation problems. Get a psu with a large fan on the bottom.

 

[ChipDeath]

Agreed. Your problems are related to case airflow, not the CPU fan.

Do you have any case fans? One 80mm intake and one 80mm exhaust Fan would work wonders. Larger fans make less noise for a given amount of airflow, but not all cases are designed to take them (mine is not, for instance).

Plus a PSU which sucks air would help, as others have suggested. (either a dual-fan one, or one with a single 120mm fan)

---
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[Unolocogringo]

Did anyone catch the 4U rackmount case. There is your problem . Insufficent airflow in a cramped small space.

Add as many fans as you can to increase air flow. Your motherboard is overheating from lack of airflow.

I aint signing nothing!!!

 

[o1die]

I upgraded my power supply to one with the 12cm side fan. It's made by sparkle and only $35 shipped. Coolmax, enlight, and superflower also make them with higher wattage ratings.

 

[Crashman]

4U is fairly large, it's the same size as a typical midtower turned sideways. In fact, it's exactly the same size as most mid-towers turned sideways.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[pauldh]

Wow, your reported mobo temps are as high as my Northwood's under load.

ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 1GB Corsair XMS 4000 Pro Series, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt

 

[Unolocogringo]

Yes I understand a 4U case is approximately 7" in height, 19"wide and varies in depth... But looking at the motherboard temps a lot of heat is building up in the case.

Maybe different fan placement or harddrive placement will allow better airflow.

I aint signing nothing!!!

 

[excitron]

>>Agreed. Your problems are related to case airflow, not the CPU fan.<<

Well, I have two fans up front drawing air in, and there are two fans on the Antec Truepower 480 PS drawing air out. The Antec is right next to the CPU. There is also an additional smaller fan on a Lian Li removeable hard drive bay blowing back towards the Antec from the right-front. The ATI Fire GL T2 has it's own fan as well.

As far as I can tell, this should supply a continuous airflow pattern from the left-front to the right-rear, essentially over the entire motherboard and out the Antec. The case is very spacious indeed, and is the equivalent space of a full-height tower.

Despite this, I'll consider a slot-mounted fan on the rear-left of the system if anyone here thinks that would be condusive to better airflow. I know there is a point of diminishing returns on fans, creating conflicting airflows and such, but this strikes me as a complimentary addition. My only hesitation is yet more noise than I already have.

 

[endyen]

If the top of you case feels quite warm, add the back fan. If it doesn't feel warm, remember that the temp sesor etc costs about 2 bits, a properly calabrated and accurate thermal measuring system in industry costs about a grand.
Your chip is very good at throttling itself, should it become overheated, so you should be stable, no matter what. Stability is the only true test for temps.

 

[excitron]

OK, I need a little more info. As it stood, while at idle AIDA32 was showing 58C/136F for the chip and 44C/111F for the motherboard. Under a load (rendering a 50-minute MP3), Aida32 was showing 76C/169F~77C/171F for the chip and 46C/117F for the motherboard.

I opened up the rack case and noticed some IDE cables were blocking airflow from the front fans, so I cleared the obstruction. The two front 80mm fans now have a direct flow into the case.

I additionally inserted a Mad Dog PCI Slot Cooler in a slot between the AGP card and the CPU (basically a "ghost" slot). This unit draws air outwards and is rated at a 35 CFM air flow.

So now I see 54C/129F for the chip and 41C/106F for the motherboard at idle. I ran another MP3 render and I'm seeing 73C/163F for the chip and 45C/113F for the motherboard. While it's certainly an improvement, is this sufficient? It still strikes me as rather hot.

I'm at a loss as to what else I can do to reduce temps. As it stands I now have two 80mm fans up front drawing in, two fans on the Antec (one looks like a 92 mm on the inside by the CPU, and the other looks like an 80mm blowing out the back). I now also have the Mad Dog fan in the PCI slot as well as the little 1 inch fan on the Lian-Li drive bay blowing in.

While I can add more fans, I feel something else is amiss here. Why would I need so much forced air? I think the case is designed with airflow in mind as a horizontal enclosure. I don't think I as yet have airflow conflicts, although that may change if I add too many more fans. One possible addition could be a miniature 3-fan array in one of the 5-1/4 inch bays on the front right. The thing already sounds like a LearJet standing by for takeoff, I suppose it'll just sound like one in-flight by the thime I'm done with this.

I still have the stock fan on the Prescott as I await a Thermalright XP-90, but I'm beginning to think I have some other complication that isn't obvious to me. I'm not so sure any more the Thermalright is going to do anything significant to my situation.

Any thoughts? I'm really lost. Thanks.